Trump says he would like to meet Chairman Kim of North Korea at DMZ

President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would like to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on the border of North and South Korea.

"After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!" Trump said on Twitter.

After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2019

Trump with meeting with Kim Jong Un, if it happens, will come a week after the latter met with China's President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang, the first visit by a China leader to the region in a decade. The possible Trump-Kim meeting is potentially being pegged as a trump card for the US President to be used in his trade talks with Xi - as an attempt to "keep Beijing out of Washington-Pyongyang relations", said North Korea expert John Delury in a CNN report.

Leverage over China, if Trump can manage it, will prove to be key in the Xi-Trump meet later in the day, where they are supposed to discuss precarious trade war talks.

(With inputs from Reuters)